The Client List Won't Be Returning For Season 3

Well guys, it’s official. Jennifer Love Hewitt will no longer be parading around in her underwear and setting up appointments for dudes to receive happy endings in a massage parlor. Not on Lifetime, at least. The network did not move forward with a third season renewal of The Client List when it was expected to this past June, and now it turns out the show won’t ever be hitting the schedule, as Lifetime has officially given the drama the axe.

When The Client List’s second season wrapped up this June, it did so amidst the news that Love Hewitt was pregnant with her first child. She’s been dating her Client List co-star, Brian Hallisay, since 2012. As of today, the couple are now engaged and well in the throes of prepping for the new baby. While plenty of actresses have gotten pregnant while filming a TV program in the past, either choosing to hide the baby weight through clever tailoring or incorporate the baby into the plot, apparently, there was some difficulty regarding how to handle Love Hewitt’s pregnancy in a potential Season 3.

Back in June, reports indicated that The Client List showrunners and Love Hewitt had agreed a baby should be a part of the potential Season 3, but they couldn’t get on the same page about who the fictional baby daddy should be. Hewitt obviously wanted her real-life baby daddy to be the father, but the creators wanted another one of the actors on the drama to take on the role. That seems like a ridiculous catfight, but it was real enough that Lifetime held off on renewing the show.

This leads us to today’s cancellation news. TV Line got the official confirmation that the show has, indeed, been cut from the schedule. While disagreements and a baby could totally be behind Lifetime’s decision, the outlet is also noting that ratings did drop for the drama during Season 2, falling from 2.7 million total viewers to 2 million total viewers by the end of the season. That’s enough of an “ouch” moment that ratings could also be a factor in the show getting dropped from the cable station, although to be fair, Devious Maids does similarly in the ratings. So maybe that catfight was a bad one, after all.

Lifetime has been in the scripted drama game for a little while, but The Client List’s racy subject matter helped to raise the network’s profile considerably, and has paved the way for shows like Devious Maids and the Charmed knock-off Witches of Eastwick to find a place on the schedule. Still, dropping the drama is unlikely to be a huge loss. At least Love Hewitt will be able to spend some time with her little tyke before she figures out her next career move.